Grupo Mexico announced yesterday that it will appeal the Mexican government's rejection of its bid to build a new airport in the Riviera Maya, reported Reuters. The mining giant said it regrets the Mexican Communications and Transport Ministry's decision to reject the bid on May 20^th and plans to argue that the reasons for the rejection were unfounded.

Grupo Mexico joined with airport operator Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico to submit the bid to build the new airport in the heart of Mexico's Caribbean coast. The new airport will provide competition for the Cancun International airport, which lies 120 kilometers to the south. The Mexican government estimates that the new Riviera Maya airport will see more than three million passengers annually, making it the sixth largest airport in the entire country. 

A bid by another group, comprised of infrastructure company TRADECO, Corporacion America and investor Haig Gulesserian, was also rejected in May, citing a failure to comply with various security standards.